Boarding School
by bbuzz28
Summary: A boarding school alternate universe where a certain Lannister is smitten with a Northern she-wolf. Not at all canonical, but fun and fluffy.


_Tyrion_

"You my friend have got it bad" his tall friend said for the thousandth time since they had snuck into the headmistress's office that morning. Tyrion sighed as he leaned on tip-toe selecting a few more blooms out of the vase on the table "everyone deserves something on their birthday Bronn. Besides, I believe I asked you to be my look out, not to remind me of the obvious." After a few more blooms he finally felt he had enough to make a decent bouquet without his wicked sister being drawn to any loss in her grandiose display. He joined his friend and leaned out the door to see if they were about to be caught and silently they both shut the door and ran like hell down the hallway.

A few moments later they were sneaking under the windowsills of the girl's dormitories, making sure to keep quiet. "You know if we get caught..." His friend started when Tyrion turned to look at him "then it looks like we have been sneaking around exchanging flowers. My reputation can take the hit, but can yours?" his friend shoved him "you know I am here on scholarship Lannister. Just because you have gone goo-goo eyes over the Northern Queen doesn't mean I have to go down for it." Tyrion put his arm on his friend's elbow " First, don't call her that. Second, all I need is a boost through her window. I will say I paid a gardener to help me or something; you will be in no such danger. But, if we don't get moving soon someone _will_ catch us in these bushes and I don't really know if I want people thinking I am your girlfriend." His friend groaned and continued forward "why couldn't you just send her something like a normal person. Why does there have to be some veil of mystery?" Tyrion kept his voice low "because we both know she is too good for me. I just want to make her smile, I don't need to have any credit beyond that." He could feel his friend sigh behind him "you have got it bad." After a few more feet Tyrion stopped him "okay, this is it. Thank the gods she left the window open." He pulled a roll of newspaper from his pocket and gently rolled the flowers up in it to keep them from falling apart on his climb. He realized he needed something to keep the package together and he started rifling through his book bag until he found the novel he had been reading, remembering it had a bit of ribbon attached to the book as a bookmark. He prayed the book would forgive him as he ripped the thin red ribbon out and quickly tied the roll of newspaper around the flowers tightly. He dropped his book bag over his friends head, put the flowers in his mouth and nodded to his friend he was ready. "Do I want to know how you know that this window is hers?" his friend asked looking up at the open bay window. Tyrion shrugged, knowing that whatever he said his friend would just shake his head at the level of devotion he had for the girl that probably didn't know he was alive.

She had only been at Kings Landing Preparatory School for the Gifted for a year, and Tyrion had fallen for her at first sight. She was beautiful, this Sansa Stark; tall and graceful, she had skin the color of milk and hair that looked like fire in the sunlight. She was intelligent too, being a full year younger than he in school but still being in some of his same classes. She was the apple of everyone's eye, and she could have had her choice of any male on campus, including a few professors if he read the way Professor Baelish watched her correctly. She never did though, she as a rule it seemed did not date, even when his golden nephew Joffrey had her in his sights. He had a conversation with his nephew after he had seen her run from him crying and thoroughly enjoyed the look of terror on his face as his threats to tell his grandfather exactly how he had managed to stay on the lacrosse team took root in his mind and thankfully the coward had seemingly stayed away.

She had a rough enough year without his torments if the stories were true; her father had been killed in the war and her older brothers were missing in action. Her mother had become so distraught and attempted to throw herself from a bridge, landing herself in a psychiatric ward. Her youngest siblings were scattered across the country with relatives and she hadn't been home since she arrived. He had learned that she would be staying over the winter holidays as he did himself, and while the circumstances were terrible, he couldn't help taking some joy in the fact that they might actually spend some time together, being one of the few students left together on campus. They were friendly when they saw each other, seemingly showing up in the same secluded spots by chance when in the library or on the grounds. He hoped that she didn't mind him seeking out her quiet company, even if they never said more than a few soft words to each other.

He thought about all of this as his friend hoisted him up and through the open bay window where he unceremoniously landed on his back end, wincing in pain. He glanced about the room and found it thankfully empty. He stood up and stretched, remembering to check the flowers, which seemed to have survived the launch. He looked around the room he had so often caught glimpses of from his own room and smiled, knowing it was exactly as he had imagined it. From observance he knew her favorite color was blue, which was only reverberated in her bedspread and linens. She had posters on the wall by famous artists he should probably know, along with sketches he could only assume she made herself. When she wasn't walking along campus arm and arm with Margery Tyrell or studying in the library, she could be found set against an old oak tree with her sketch pad and a look of pure contentment on her face. He walked over to her desk to lay the flowers on it, figuring he could just silently slip out the door when he found her sketch pad open. He wouldn't have stopped to look at the open page if he didn't seem himself looking back at him. "What in the world" he whispered as he gazed at his ugly face that had been reproduced on paper, even his prominent scar being softened by her deft hand. He raised his hand to his physical scar, the one he had earned when he fell through a glass cabinet he had been leaning on trying to reach a book in his father's library that only added to his deformed features. He heard a quiet sound behind him and found Sansa watching him, having come out from behind a divider in the room and he felt himself go white with shock.

 _Sansa_

 _What in the world is Tyrion Lannister climbing through my bedroom window for?_ she thought as she watched his small frame climb through and land awkwardly on her carpeted floor. _Does he mean to play a trick on me?_ Even as she thought it she renounced it, he was always nice to her. It was his nephew that had been the cruel one, the one who had played all those tricks on her during her first weeks at school after she had refused to go out with him. The only reason he had stopped she had heard was because Tyrion had stood up for her. She watched as he stretched and checked the package he was carrying as she thought about what she should do. He didn't know she was behind her changing divider, should she wait and see what he did before announcing her presence? She looked on as he almost tenderly arranged whatever was in the newspaper wrapped parcel before he made for her desk. She stopped breathing, knowing that her latest drawing was of him and that he would see it in moments. _He is going to think I am such a creep_ she thought as her stomach turned. _The guy who somehow climbed into your bedroom window is going to think you're the creepy one in this situation?_ A quiet voice that sounded suspiciously like her sister Arya's asked in the back of her mind as she watched him place his parcel down on her desk.

She waited a few moments as she watched him drink in her portrait of him before she came out from behind the divider. He turned to her with a look of utter shock and she couldn't help but smile "you know it's not very nice to snoop in girl's bedrooms sir." He had turned as white as a sheet "Sansa? I am so sorry, I only meant to…this is so embarrassing." The young man buried his face in his hands and backed away from her towards the door. She realized that most girls in this situation would be scared finding a strange person crawling through their bedroom window, but she was only curious. "Is that…is that for me?" she asked extending her hand for the newspaper package. He met her halfway staring at the floor and she untied the ribbon that held it together and found a bouquet of late fall flowers. She smiled as she inhaled the faint scent of the chrysanthemums and heleniums "how did you know it was my birthday? Unless you frequently climb through unsuspecting girls windows to bestow bouquets on their desks as a hobby?" She meant it as a joke, but she could tell he was just getting more embarrassed every minute he was in her presence "I am sorry. I was just curious to know more about you and while I was in my father's office one day I may have looked up your file." She frowned "you know most people speak to each other when they want to know more about the other person, not break into supposedly sealed files in the President of the boarding school's office." He clenched his fists "I know! I know that I am literally the creepiest guy in the world and I should just go. I am sorry to have bothered you and I will never speak to you again, I promise." She quickly made a decision and walked in front of her door blocking his path "hey. I didn't say you were creepy, if anyone is creepy here it's the person who has a portrait of you on their desk." He smiled "I think the level of creep is in my favor my lady. I would be called a stalker in some circles." She returned his smile "okay, I could be a stalker then too since I routinely find myself seeking out your silent companionship in the library or when I sketch in the garden. Why have we been so actively trying to spend time with each other when doing our absolute best to not speak to one another?" They looked at each other for the first time knowing they both were on the same page and blushed. She cleared her throat and put the flowers on her desk "well I don't know about you but I feel silly. It's logical that we would be friends, maybe even good friends if we would actually you know- speak to one another. I already feel like I know you." He grinned at her "logical isn't the word I would use. You are literally the most beautiful girl in the world, incredibly intelligent and are the gentlest person I have ever met. Being friends with the ugly joke of the headmaster's son would just move your application for sainthood farther. _Does he really see himself that way?_ she thought as she closed the distance between them remembering how nice he had always been to her, how whenever they had spoken in the past he had gone out of his way to compliment her no matter what she had done. "Let's start over. Hello, my name is Sansa Stark and I would like to get to know you better." The smile that grew on his face contorted his stunted features in a way that could almost be attractive "Hello Sansa, my name is Tyrion Lannister and it would be my pleasure to get to know you better." He extended his hand and she took it, enjoying how warm it was and how it seemed to fit so well in her own.

They were interrupted at a knock on her door and they froze looking at each other in a panic "if I am caught in your room" he started "it will be bad for both of us, you're right." she finished pulling him to the other side of the room. "Stay behind there and don't make a noise" she commanded shoving him behind her changing divider. She walked to her door and found Margery on the other side smiling "hey girl! Queen Cersei is making the rounds saying that there were boys seen sneaking around the dormitory windows. Just came by to let you know in case you had anyone in here." Sansa must have told her something with her expression because the pretty brunette pushed her way inside and closed the door behind her with her big brown eyes wide as saucers. "Do you actually have a boy in here? I just meant it as a joke but-" she stopped talking when Tyrion came out from behind the divider and awkwardly waved. Her friend's mouth hung open in shock "seven hells Sansa, I knew you liked him but I didn't know you had been sneaking around together! Why didn't you tell me?" Sansa felt herself turn several shades of red as she felt his eyes land on her "you like _me?_ " he questioned disbelievingly. They heard the headmistress walking down the corridor "okay ladies, open your doors up. Let's get this over with." The two girls stared at each other and then at Tyrion trying to figure out what to do before Margery shoved him back behind the divider "don't move a muscle." She opened the door and painted on a fake smile as the headmistress was about to knock "Hello Miss Cersei, just us chickens here inside the hen house." Cersei Lannister-Baratheon stepped in and scanned the room "I am sure Miss Stark wouldn't be having anything to do with any young men after she dismissed my son's affections. Isn't that right Sansa?" she asked sarcastically. Sansa stayed quiet praying to the old gods and the new that she would not think to look behind her divider. After a few anxious moments the woman nodded "alright, everything seems to be in order. Come along Miss Tyrell, lets head next door to your room." Margery followed the beautiful blonde woman out the door throwing a glance at Sansa that clearly said _get rid of him!_

The door closed and Sansa quickly went behind her divider to find Tyrion standing there with a goofy grin on his face. "You like me" he said looking at her like it was the most incredible thing in the world. She felt herself blush as she grabbed his hands and dragged him back over to the window "yeah well if not for Margery you wouldn't be around for me to like now would you? We can talk later, for now get yourself back over to your own dormitory before you're missed." He climbed and hung his legs over the windowsill, then turned kneeling so that he was actually taller than her when he looked into her face "it's your birthday but I seem to be the one given the better gift Sansa." Sansa smiled and rolled her eyes "just because I like you doesn't mean I am going to throw myself into your arms Tyrion. Let us just see where this goes naturally now that we are actually on speaking terms." He looked at her with furrowed brows "before I wake up from this obvious dream can I ask why?" She blushed as she took a step closer "because you have always been nice to me. You're smart and kind and even though we haven't spent a lot of time together I know you are someone I would like to spend more time with." He looked at her for a few moments before he grinned at her again and she could feel the warmth radiating from him. "Now get out of here before I change my mind, we can talk later" she said as she gently pushed him. He took her offered hands and swung down from his perch to the ground below only stumbling slightly. He looked up at her and waved "happy birthday Sansa." With that he quickly snuck along the building and around the corner out of sight. She closed her window and sat on her window seat still feeling the warmth of his hands in hers and smiled, excited for what would come next for the first time in months.

 _Margery_

At dinner that night Margery quickly found her friend in line for dinner and jumped in beside her lacing her arm with hers "okay Lady Stark, you owe me so many details." She saw her pretty friend blush as she picked her tray up and went along the line "thanks for earlier. Had we been caught it would have been awful." Margery picked up her own tray "that's all you have to say to me? You claim to be my very best friend and yet you forgot to mention that you have been running around with Tyrion Lannister of all people, sneaking him into your bedroom for afternoon rendezvous ?" Sansa's blush deepened "it's not like that. He was just bringing me a gift for my birthday. We haven't even really had a conversation before today, but if I am honest I hope it doesn't stay that way." She watched as her friend glanced over at the table where the dwarf sat with his lumbering compatriot Bronn who always had a smart word and the quiet younger boy Podrick whose eyes never left his lap. Tyrion's eyes met Sansa's and he grinned as he slowly raised his hand and waved at her. She felt her friend giggle as she raised her arm in response with a thin red ribbon tied to her wrist that had not been there earlier. Margery rolled her eyes "you two are already as bad as Loras and Renley. I can't believe I will now have to deal with my sister in arms being in love with a Lannister." Sansa didn't answer her as she led the way over to the table and Margery thought _this is going to be something different._


End file.
